Happy Anniversary

Laying in bed talking to my baby daddy while he had his had on my bump feeling our son kick I  felt overwhelmed with thankfulness and joy, because 4 years ago today I married the man of my dreams! It has been an amazing time, and I truly can't thank God enough for this life I get to share with my best friend! I can say without a doubt that May 29th 2010 was the best day of my life, and I would do it over again everyday if I could! I always expected that after the 1st year of marriage things would slowly get less exciting, but I think each year gets better as we become closer! 

I am glad that I get to know without a doubt if I am having a bad day I have a strong man who will not only try to make it better he will pray for me, pray for us, and the thing that was going to make things worse will end up bringing us closer together. And during the good times he is the person I want to share them with, the person cheering me on, and the person who makes them better!

Thank you Michael for choosing me!

Here are some pictures of the day I became
 Mrs. Reece the happiest girl in the world!

Photos courtesy of Rebecca Anne Photos

2nd Trimester Must Haves

I honestly cannot believe that it is the end of my 2nd Trimester! 

Here are a few things that have helped me make this amazing time more comfortable.

1. With my ever growing belly, and the discomfort of stretching skin I have fallen head over heels for Bump Oil! It keeps my skin soft and provides immediate relive with my skin gets itchy. I also like their Body scrub and Tummy butter!

2. Reading about babies and pregnancy is something most pregnant woman can’t help doing, but I have honestly had a hard time not reading too much. With all the books warning you of what can go wrong I can get stressed. Then my sister in law gave me Belly Laughs. It is perfect for putting pregnancy worries into perspective, and you can't help but laugh out loud while reading it.

3. Before pregnancy I struggled to get the 40 grams of protein per day I needed, and during pregnancy that number increases to 70 grams of protein daily. That’s a lot of protein to consume! I craved meat so much in my 1st trimester I wasn't worried about it, but I have fallen back into being a snacker and am craving more fruits and veggies during my second trimester. That being said I have found the BEST protein bars in the world! They have tons of flavors, but the Chocolate Chip cookie dough is my all-time favorite. I have it with fruit and yogurt, and it makes for a very happy mommy and baby!

4. Maternity Long Tanks are the best! Sara got me a few to cheer me when I was having a bad day, and I talked about how comfortable they are Mike ordered me 5 different colors for Mother's Day. You can find them at Target, and there is a lot colors to choose from. They have a little bit of spandex in them so they stretch over your growing baby bump, and should last all the way through your pregnancy.

5. I would say the one thing that has been the same about this pregnancy to my last is Heartburn, and it has been the only constant problem I have had in my 2nd Trimester. The best thing my midwife has ever recommended is Zantac. It works so much better than Tums, and lasts all day!

6. Mike surprised me with a Snoggle Pillow in January, but it wasn't until my 2nd Trimester that I fell in love with it! It makes getting comfortable at night (when you are shaped like a Pear with legs) so much easier!!

A fun 3 day weekend to end my 2nd trimester!

 We got Kade back this weekend, so it was time to celebrate his birthday in style. We spent Saturday from open to close at Roaring Springs with friends!
It was a great day to go, because there was no crowd which meant the kids could go on all the rides over and over again with no line! Baby and I were mostly excited for the snow cone shack :)

After the water park we went back home for pizza, rainbow cake, ice cream, and presents! 

Kade got a new bright green bike and helmet! 

Sunday after church we went to settlers park for lunch with Grandma Sue and Auntie Mandi!

 Then we headed to Auntie Grace's Graduation party at my parent's house where the kids had fun roasting marshmallows and playing in the fire! 

Congrat and Happy Birthday little sis we are proud of you! 

Today we had a relaxing morning at home, and talked to the kids about why we celebrate Memorial Day! This evening Kade is having dinner with his grandma to celebrate his birthday with her seeing he doesn't get to spend the day with her like Jenna does every Monday this summer while Mike, Jenna and I finished our registry at Target and got the baby a snow cone :) 

Here is the link to our Target Registry 

Now I am watching Mike and Jenna do their nightly summer basketball drills, and loving this sunshine!

I want to take a moment to thank all who have served our country and sacrificed at all, so that I could have fun times in a Free Christian County with family! 

Thank you!  

My Airman is home and Our 27 week Midwife appointment

My Husband is finally home! It's amazing how complete I feel when he is home! We go right back into being this well oiled machine I don't know how I do things when he is gone! Thursday afternoon we picked him up from the airport! The kids were so excited :) they hid behind a trash can and then attacked him as he walked through the doors! We took the kids to go get snow cones (mostly because baby wanted one), and then went home for a quite dinner at home just the 4 1/2 of us ;) Daddy and the kids played football while I watched my heart felt so full it could burst! That night daddy got to feel his baby and even see baby move around the bump :) it was the most wonderful bonding moment for the 3 of us! I love that whenever we cuddle now he gets to feel our baby!

The next day Mike spent the day with his girl swimming and playing basketball! She counted down $1 bills for each day he was gone for them to use to go on a date with when he got back :)

That night was just me and my man! We always go to the melting pot for our Anniversary... yes it's a few weeks away, but we have other plans that weekend so we figured why not start the celebrating early. We had other plans, but ended up just talking all night! It was so perfect! I feel like we stay close while he is gone, but there is nothing like being next to your best friend to make you feel so safe and loved!

Saturday we got to sleep in and have breakfast in bed which is one of our favorite weekend traditions! Then we picked up Thing 2 to go see Thing 1's soccer game! After we went to lunch and for a walk to enjoy the sunshine!

Sunday was our gender party here is the link

Baby Reece's Gender Reveal Party

I posted about that! It was perfect, and I happy beyond words to be giving my husband a son! Though I did tell him seeing Jenna is a daddy's girl 100% our little guy will be a mommy's boy ;)

Here is some of the fun notes our friends left for us on diapers at our party!

Monday was equally as great! We went to breakfast at our favorite place that morning before our appointment, but our Midwife got called to Labor and delivery so we rescheduled for afternoon! I am so ok with that, because I plan to do the same thing to someone in a few months ;)

At the appointment she measured me and the bump is measuring at 29 weeks! I told Mike I was big :) Our Midwife says that its totally normal, and we may just have a tall boy which daddy is all to pleased about!

His heart beat is perfect and all is great on the pregnancy front! My next appointment I will be checked for Gestational Diabetes... I am so glad Mike will be there to keep me company :) Again I am loving having my baby daddy home!

That evening seeing we now know we are having a boy we registered! We went to Burlington 1st but didn't like their selection, so we went to Babies R US! It was so much fun I am not going to lie! Big sister loved getting to be a part of the whole thing and loved the scan gun! My favorite part was all the cute little things, Jenna's was baby toys, and Mike literally read safety ratings on everything we picked lol

Here is a link to our registry :) Baby Reece Gift Registry

We finished our evening having dinner and family time at Big Als!

Tuesday after school Mike and Jenna spent the afternoon together. Then we had a relaxing movie night and enjoyed yummy cheese cake thanks to the amazing Shawn and Chris!

We are all settled into life again and looking forward to having Kade this weekend! I want to thank everyone who supported us through Mike being gone again!

Now I think I will go kiss my Airman just because I can!

Gender Reveal Party

Finding out that my sweet little man is a boy was such an exciting time!

Here is some of the highlights!

Invites 

We got them from
Lucy ReigningParties'

 
 


We had a few different activities going on before the cake was cut!
We had leave a message on a diaper... we have a whole box full of funny and sweet messages from friends for those midnight changings!

There was birthday cards for Baby Reece, so that all of our friends could send him birthday wishes even if they are not at each of his Birthdays!

There was a diaper raffle for everyone who brought diapers! Thank you to everyone who did we officially have enough diapers to last for at least a year!  

And there was photo booth props, so that we could have funny pictures of everyone with their vote! Thank you to Grace for taking pictures :)

There was a candy bar full of pink and blue treat and yummy muffins and pretty cupcakes to go with our theme!

To Drink we had Pink and blue bottled sodas... I personally love peach soda now!

 

The Big Reveal was cutting into our cake to see what color the filling was. Up until the party Mike claimed to not have a preference, but his reaction was so I WANTED A BOY it was priceless! I was so overwhelmed with emotions to finally know I couldn't not cry! It was so perfect and we are so very happy that we stay up late laying there trying to name him... ya know cause we don't still have 3 months ;)

 

Thank you again to everyone who came and to everyone who is excited with us!



It's a....

We had our gender reveal party today! It was so much fun! Thank you to everyone who came and helped make this such a perfect experience! Especially Jammie for hosting!

I will post more about our party separately because I want to go shopping for blue EVERYTHING, but I promised multiple people that I would post the gender ASAP!  

All the votes were in, so it was time to cut the cake!

Daddy was excited!

Mommy cried tears of Joy!

Because we are having a BOY!!!!!

Happy Birthday Thing 1!

Today is Thing 1's 8th Birthday, and though I don't get to spend it with him it is still a special day to me! Being a stepmom is one of the most difficult amazing gifts in the world. It teaches you to love like no other relationship can, and it is a love I wouldn't give up for anything!  It is with teary eyes that I post this knowing that I won't be able to celebrate his big day for another few weeks, but I just couldn't let the day pass without celebrating him someway! 

 Can you believe that my monster man is so big! It makes me sad some days seeing how much of a big boy he has become! He is so strong and so smart it is incredible! I know that he is going to be a great big man someday, but I like to just take time to look back on how much fun it has been watching him grow so far! 

*Each year I take a picture of the kids and ask them some questions, so some day when they are all grown up I can show them how they got there! I share the picture with all the moms/grandmas in their life each spring, so everyone can keep track and be as proud as I am to be apart of their lives! 

This is the pictures of Kade from Kinder to 2nd!

Bump Update 8- 25 Weeks

How far along? 25 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 9lbs

Maternity clothes: Loving getting to wear summer maternity clothes. Hoping this warm weather stays around… remind me I said that when I am complaining about it in July ;)
Is there a such thing as Maternity shoes? I need to find some! My feet have been so sore lately! Mike sent me a gift card to get a few new pairs of shoes (Shoes are what I get every Mother's Day instead of flowers), so I need to find some comfy options :)

Stretch marks: Nope! My sweet husband sent me more of the bump oil that I love from Spoiled Mama, so here is to hoping ;)

Sleep: I don’t need sleep like I did before which is so nice. I actually have the most energy to do things at night! I have been waking up hungry or with leg cramps, so I am not sleeping through the night very well. All in all no complaints though!

Best moment this week: It’s been a pretty great few weeks! Mike has been sending me gifts every few days to make up for missing Mother's Day (I am spoiled I know)! We did an online shopping date the other night to pick out a crib mattress for the baby...I will post about that separately.
Amanda, Sara, and I had a date in the park Friday to plan my baby shower. I booked my maternity photos last week, and had a perfect lazy not leave the house day on Sunday that Jenna and I just played together and cuddled up with Simba for some Anne of Green Gables! :)
Tonight I had a family dinner, and got to see my sister in laws parents for the 1st time since I was pregnant with Jenna which was so nice! Plus this week is Employee Appreciation week at work... I love my management team! 

Miss Anything? My baby daddy and our Monster Man! But we are on the final countdown of days, so I am pretty darn happy! I had a "I want wine so bad" moment the other day. It was one of those long days that sitting on the couch with a glass of wine and a good book is just what I would do at night, but I can’t have wine :( I did substitute the wine with lemonade and cookies and me and baby were pretty happy!

Movement: It is constant these days, and I love it! Baby likes to move a lot when it is quite or only a few people are around. Like when I am at work baby will kick my desk!But loud and busy places I feel no movement at all… I just picture thing 3 curled up covering their ears ;) Mike says baby is just an introvert like mommy ;)

Food cravings: It changes more and more these days usually to do with whatever food I saw or heard about last. Strawberries are a staple in our home right now though. I also love cucumber, pretzels, and other small snacks more than full meals.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not at all! When I stand up to fast I get lightheaded, but other than that feeling great!

Labor Signs: The bump will occasionally get rock hard, but nothing uncomfortable.

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I am a happy girl who is loving the energy that comes with this 2nd trimester! I have times where I am definitely full of hormones, but they are not all tears and nausea like my 1st trimester!
I have had so much fun lately with my girlfriends getting baby planning done, and I am constantly surprised by the awesome people in our lives stepping up to help me out like Steven coming to mow my lawn for me while I was at the Color Race on Saturday! 

Looking forward to: Next week when I get to kiss the man that I love! Then the next week is our gender reveal party, and the weekend after that is our Anniversary get away!
The monday after Mike gets back in our next Midwife appointment, so I will let everyone know how baby is again by then! :)

Color Me RAD 2014

My Best friend Sara and I have made a tradition out of taking our kids to run the Color me RAD 5K. This year we brought some back up seeing we are both pregnant, and didn't think inhaling bright colors would be good for the babies! My sister Grace and her boyfriend Josh ran with the kids and they all had a blast! Here are some of my favorite shots of the day! 

      Best Friends getting ready for the Race! 

 All my crazies! 

  

 Grace and Joshy at the finish line! 

 Jojo and Dom covered in color! 

Me and my princess after the race! 

   

End of the race fun! 

Old Wives Tales- Gender Prediction

In preparation for our upcoming gender reveal party I decided to see if I could find out before everyone what my little love's gender is, so I looked into the most common "Old Wives Tales" to see what they had to offer... this is what I found out :)

1. Bump Height: If you carry high it is a girl, and low it is a boy. I am carrying high, so it's a GIRL!

2. Stealing Mom's Beauty: If you have more Acne and Skin problems than when you are not pregnant your little girl is stealing your beauty! Thankfully this is one sign from my last pregnancy that I do not have this time around, so it's a BOY!

3. Gender Dreams: Whatever you dream your baby is it will be the opposite. I keep dreaming we are having a boy, so it's a GIRL!

4. Cravings:
A. When a pregnant woman craves meat and cheese, count on a boy. From day one eggs and meat have been my biggest cravings, so it's a BOY!
B. Craving sweets? According to some, that means you're going to have a little girl. Salty and sour cravings indicate a boy. With all the strawberries and Ice cream I am definitely craving sweets, so it's a GIRL!

5. Chinese Calendar: Chinese birth charts use your age at conception and the month you conceived to determine the sex of your baby. Want to give it a shot? Chinese Calendar Here!
According to this it's a BOY!

6. Heartbeat: Your baby's heart rate might be an indicator of its gender. If your little one's heart rate is under 140 beats per minute, you're having a little boy. If it's over, get ready for your little girl! Well Baby Reece has consistently been 160 since my 1st appointment, so it's a GIRL!

7. Mayan Prediction: According to the Mayans if your birth year and year of conception are both even and odd than it is a girl, but if one is odd and one is even it's a boy.
I was born in 1988 and conceived in 2013, so that means it's a BOY!

8. Morning Sickness: If you have lots of morning sickness in your 1st trimester it is a girl, but if you get through it like a breeze it's a boy. Well I definitely had morning sickness this time around, so it's a GIRL!

9.Mood:Those old wives say that when a woman is pregnant with a girl, she’s more moody than usual. I haven't been any moodier than I always am, so it's a BOY!

10. Headaches: If you are having headaches you might be carrying a boy. Well I had a sinus headache once, but other than that my head is fine... so it's a GIRL!

And finally for the always right ring over the bump test: If the ring goes back and forth it's a girl and in a circle it is a boy.....
Drum Roll please ;) It's a BOY!

That being said... It's a BABY! 

Those old wives should have tried harder to get their facts straight ;)

I am so excited it is MAY! May means my baby daddy will be home very soon, and then I can start counting down the days until I finally get to find out the gender of my sweet baby Reece!